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I wrote Monday that the 49ers could possibly benefit from employing experienced experts for their football operation, which is what they did for their stadium campaign in Santa Clara. According to several polls measure J has a substantial lead going into Tuesday’s election. I further tried to make the point that the team hired experienced coaches and administrators before they embarked on their two decades of excellence in the 80′s and 90′s. Furthermore, I compared the 49ers front office with that of currently successful teams, to see if the successful teams stocked their clubs with experienced experts.

One example I used was the Eagles with president Joe Banner and head coach Andy Reid. Blogger Geomark then pointed out that when Banner and Reid first started in Philly, they were both inexperienced. Much like 49ers coach Mike Singletary, Reid had only seven years of NFL coaching experience and none as a coordinator. Banner was working for talk radio before moving up the ranks to the president’s role.

Banner’s career arch parallels that of the 49ers’ Paraag Marathe, the team’s cap manager and chief contract negotiator. Marathe also works on stadium issues and heads the team’s football research arm. Banner is known as possibly the best cap manager in the game. Marathe is also drawing plaudits for his cap manipulations. Banner came from a non-football background, and so did Marathe. If there’s a model out there for the 49ers front office, it’s the Eagles.

However, most successful teams follow the more conventional path of hiring proven, experienced coaches and administrators and that includes the 49ers. The team became a league standard bearer under the guidance of Bill Walsh and John McVay. Cracks began to form in the dynasty when the team began to forsake experience for friendship. The team’s record of draft excellence began to slip in the 1990′s when Eddie DeBartolo Jr. promoted cronies Dwight Clark and Vinny Cerrato into powerful positions. The team stayed successful because of good coaching, Hall of fame quarterbacking and lavish spending on free agents. However, after Cerrato and Clark received big promotions in 1995, the team never returned to the Super Bowl.